Quebec Immigration Levels Plan
Quebec Immigration
Levels Plan
This comprehensive CAN Pathways page provides everything you need to know about Quebec’s immigration levels plan for 2022, which includes admission figures, ranges and targets by category and the percentage of economic admissions relative to total admissions in all Quebec immigration categories.
Quebec’s immigration plan for 2022 aims to welcome up to 52,500 new permanent residents to the province through its various immigration programs.
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Summary of Quebec’s Immigration Levels Plan
As part of the Quebec Immigration Plan 2022, the province has set a target of 24,500 to 30,000 admissions in the categories that fall under its selection authority. These targets include between 18,000 and 22,000 skilled workers, between 1,500 and 2,300 business immigrants as well as between 5,000 and 5,700 candidates in other economic immigration programs. Economic immigrants are expected to represent 65 per cent of the overall target for total admissions to Quebec in 2022.
Furthermore, the province intends to receive additional immigrants in 2022 to make up for a significant shortfall in admissions over the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic. Up to 18,000 admissions could be processed in 2022, in addition to the planned maximum of 52,500, bringing the total admissions to 70,000.
The table below shows the total number of selections in each immigration category for 2022. The table also highlights the percentage and proportion represented by economic immigration relative to all other immigration categories for the year 2022.
Quebec Overall Immigration Plan for 2022
Expected Admissions for 2021 | Admission Targets for 2022 |
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | Rebalancing | ||
| Economic immigration category | 25,300 | 27,800 | 32,000 | 33,900 | 12,700 | |
| Skilled Workers | 23,500 | 25,600 | 27,400 | 28,800 | 12,700 | |
| Business People | 1,800 | 2,100 | 4,000 | 4,300 | 0 | |
| Other Economic categories | 0 | 100 | 600 | 800 | 0 | |
| Family Reunification | 11,000 | 11,400 | 10,200 | 10,600 | 1,000 | |
| Refugees and people in similar situations | 5,500 | 6,300 | 6,900 | 7,500 | 1,500 | |
| Refugees selected abroad | 900 | 1,300 | 4,400 | 4,700 | 600 | |
| State-supported refugees | 500 | 700 | 1,650 | 1,700 | 200 | |
| Sponsored refugees | 400 | 600 | 2,750 | 3,000 | 400 | |
| Refugee recognized in Canada | 4,600 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 2,800 | 900 | |
| Other immigration categories | 1,300 | 1,600 | 400 | 500 | 2,800 | |
| Percentage selected by Quebec | 64% | 65% | 74% | 74% | 89% | |
| Percentage selected under an economic immigration program | 59% | 59% | 65% | 65% | 71% | |
| Percentage selected with French language proficiency | 71% | 71% | 62% | 62% | 82% | |
| Overall totals | 43,100 | 47,100 | 49,500 | 52,500 | 18,000 | |
What is the Quebec Immigration Process?
Under the 1991 Canada-Quebec Accord, the Government of Quebec is responsible for selecting immigrants to the province. The selection process is managed by Quebec’s Immigration Ministry, the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI).
The Quebec Selection Certificate, or Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ) is a document issued by the MIFI that proves to Canada’s federal government that an applicant has been selected for immigration to Quebec. Immigration candidates who are issued a CSQ can then apply for permanent resident status with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
The Quebec Immigration ministry:
- assesses foreign nationals’ eligibility for a CSQ under Quebec’s various economic immigration, business immigration, refugee and humanitarian categories; and
- issues CSQs to applicants who meet the criteria for immigration to Quebec.
The Government of Canada continues to oversee the following:
- security, criminal and medical background checks that determine the admissibility of new immigrants to Canada; and
- creation of categories and classes of immigration, allocating and enforcing annual immigration levels while taking into consideration the number of immigrants the Government of Quebec wishes to welcome in any given year.
What are Quebec’s Economic Immigration Programs?
Foreign nationals who are interested in settling in Quebec can apply for a CSQ in one of the following economic immigration categories:
- Quebec Skilled Worker Program (QSWP), also known as the Regular Skilled Worker Program: This is Quebec’s key immigration pathway for skilled workers who want to become permanent residents of Canada, and reside in Quebec. Under this program, the Quebec government uses an expression of interest system that relies on a unique point system to prioritize potential CSQ candidates. Points are awarded on the basis of “human capital factors” which include, but are not limited to, education and training, qualified work experience, and proficiency in English or French.
- Quebec Experience Class, Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ): The PEQ is a popular immigration option for international students who have obtained an eligible diploma from a Quebec post-secondary institution, and skilled workers with eligible work experience in the province.
- Quebec Business Immigration: Foreign nationals who can prove they have the resources can apply for immigration to Quebec under a wide range of business immigration programs for investors, entrepreneurs, and self-employed individuals.